Kelly Rowland dad 'pleads for forgiveness'

Kelly Rowland's father has issued a public plea for the singer to get back in touch.

65-year-old Christopher fell into a depression and became dependent on alcohol after losing his job during the X Factor judge's youth. His relationship with the Destiny's Child star and her mother Doris eventually collapsed when his feelings of "failure" mutated into anger.

Christopher parted ways with his wife and 7-year-old Kelly when they were evicted from their home, but has remained hopeful of a reunion over the last two decades.

"Kelly, I love you with all my heart," the Sunday Mirror quotes him as saying. "Please forgive me and let me be your dad again."

He further recalled: "The failure to provide for my ­family fuelled an anger that I will be ashamed of until my dying day... No parent should scream and shout in front of their child, and I am sorry to say there were too many times to ­mention that Kelly heard me ­screaming abuse at her mother. Sometimes she would run to her ­bedroom screaming, others she would cling to my trouser leg begging me to stop.

"I really hoped I would get to make it up to her. Sadly I am still waiting for that day. But I can't give up hope. That's why there is a room in my house which I have decorated especially for Kelly, just in case she comes through the front door."

Kelly has previously said of her father: "I don't know where he is but I hope he's not dead. That would break my heart.

"I remember my dad being drunk and aggressive towards my mom but not me. I don't know if he knows who I am or what I've done. He must be hiding under a rock if he doesn't."